skip to main |
skip to sidebar
No, I am not a Thomasian and neither is my good friend Cheng although we both once desired to become students of this prestigious university. But even though we never had the chance to study at "uste", we had the closest experience on what it's like being a UST student - by trying out the foods that they usually eat. The last time I had a food walk was when I invited my travel buddies Earl, Ivy and Ronnie to UP Diliman and that was over a year ago. I usually go for the cheaper ones so I tried doing a little research online and found out that there are cheap food finds near UST. Good thing Mommy Cheng was just a few blocks away from the campus so I instantly had a buddy who can tour me around the UST area. It took us around three weeks to finally push through with the food trip because of the bad weather conditions but despite the occasional rains, it was all worth the wait.
The first stop on our food walk is the Botsicake food stall which is located just outside the P. Noval gate of UST. At first I thought that they have like chairs and tables but I was surprised to know that they simply have a small stall just like the fishball or qwek-qwek vendors along the street. Botsicake sells Japanese cakes that are freshly made at a very affordable price. They have the cheese flavour which only costs Php6 per piece while the Oreo and the mallow flavours are priced at Php10. I find the Oreo Japanese cake to be the most delicious one as the Oreo cookie is cooked in between two botchi cakes making the cookie soft and sweet at the same time. I ate 1 cheese and 2 Oreo flavoured Japanese cakes and oh boy it was such a delight.
We passed by several interesting food stalls and restaurants along Dapitan St. but the one that caught our attention is the French Toast stall in front of 7-Eleven. Unfortunately we didn't get to try their french toasts but they sure are tempting especially that they only cost from Php20 to Php25.
The stall however that we weren't able to resist is Tea Zone which is also along Dapitan. They have a plethora of flavours to choose from and you can get two shakes at a price range of Php48 to Php65. We decided to order the Taro flavour and I must say that their shakes are very tasty for such a low price.
After reaching the end of Dapitan we went back to P. Noval St. to eat lunch at Mang Tootz which is already known to be an institution in the UST area. This popular carinderia has tables and chairs lined up along the sidewalks but now they are allowed to occupy half of the street since it is currently closed due to the on-going road constructions. The friendly staff would already put a glass filled with ice and a pitcher of water even before you're done ordering your food so service is really fast when you are going to eat at this place. What's interesting though is the way they serve the food that you are going to order from them. They don't use any trays and just stack up everything on the plate so better have good balancing skills when you're going to order a lot.
A meal at this carinderia only costs around Php50 complete with 1 cup of rice and soup. I ordered pork stroganoff while Cheng chose the pork chop stuffed with cheese. I was also able to try the ever famous Banana-rhum-a which happens to be their specialty dessert. It's similar to the traditional turon but what's special about their version is their sauce which is made of pineapple rhum and banana flavor. To make it even more special, they generously sprinkle it with cinnamon powder and sesame seeds. And the price? Just Php10 for 3 pieces of this heavenly dessert.
It continued to rain after we left Mang Tootz so we decided to look for a place that has chairs and tables where we can just sit and wait for the rain to stop. At first we thought of going to Mini Stop but since we were actually going on a food walk we decided to go to Coffee Indulgence instead which is located right in front of the P. Noval exit. Cheng ordered the Oreo shake while I ordered the vanilla strawberry. Most of their coffees and shakes are reasonably priced from Php35 to Php70. They also serve Italian food like pizza, pasta and calzone which are priced around the Php50 budget.
Cheng told me that if there's one thing that I shouldn't miss when going on a food trip in UST then it would be the BBQ alley. It's a long strip of barbecue stalls that opens from 4pm to 12am. Tables and chairs usually line up on the street around 6pm to so they could cater to the university students who are living around the area. But aside from their barbeques, there are also other options like pork ears, hotdogs, isaw, siomai, bologna and even tofu, all grilled to perfection.
Cheng brought me to one of the pioneer barbeque stalls which is right in front of the sari-sari store with a big Selecta ice cream chest outside. She highly recommends this place for their sauces and also because this is the only stall that offers fresh grilled tofu. I was able to try it and also their isaw which both costs Php5 per stick and it really tastes good especially with their signature sauce.
For our last stop, we visited a food cart along P. Campa St. that serves palabok and baked mac for just Php25. It may be cheap but it's definitely like not the ordinary ones that you can order at any food stall. I was able to try their palabok and I noticed that they generously put a lot of ingredients and a very delicious sauce on it. Unfortunately, the baked mac wasn't available so Cheng just ordered the same. She wasn't surprised though because according to her, this usually happens for a lot of people line up at this food cart just to order their specialties so most of the time their food are almost gone before merienda time is over.
And that concludes our 6 hours of food tripping around the UST area. There's still a lot of bang for the buck food stalls near the campus so if you'll ever be somewhere near the area, go ahead and try out some their specialties. You'll surely have a gastronomic experience like we did!
Ayala Triangle's Symphony of Lights is something that I never miss out on every Christmas season. Currently on its third year, this spectacle has grown in popularity and continues to offer a serenade of Christmas melodies and light shows that will leave its audience in awe.
The Symphony of Lights is a yearly Christmas tradition that never fails to draw crowds from the busy districts of Makati and nearby places. And just like the previous years, it is held right at the heart of city, the Ayala Triangle Gardens.
In 2009 it was called 'Symphony of Lights' while in 2010 they changed it to 'Symphony of Parols'. For this year they dubbed this lights and sounds show as the 'Spectacular Spectrum' featuring thousands of lights that are creatively synchronized with a set of wonderfully arranged Christmas songs such as Give Love on Christmas Day, Jingle Bell Rock and Winter Wonderland. Aside from the laser lights and fog machines that were used during the previous light shows, they are now using energy-saving LED lights and added inflatable stars too!
This year I brought along my officemates Len, Rio and Borj to watch the event. I noticed that Len was a little teary-eyed because of the music that was played during the light show. Len's husband is an OFW and she's hasn't seen him for years so I understand that at some point she might get carried away with the music.
To ate Len, I know how much you miss your husband and your dreams of spending the yuletide season with him and your son. Hearing those Christmas songs while watching this show made you a bit emotional and I can't blame you for feeling that way. Don't worry because I know that someday you will be able to spend the holidays with them and will be able to see this spectacle together as a family. :)
For those of you who still haven't seen Ayala Triangle's Christmas offering, you still have until December 30 to watch this amazing spectacle. It runs every weekdays from 6pm to 9pm and admission is free. So bring out the whole family or your barkada with you and checkout this beautiful lights and sound show in Makati and get ready to be dazzled. You'll have wait until next Christmas to see it again so don't miss it this yuletide season!
I bet most of you guys are missing the original Banchetto-Emerald Avenue branch but here's the latest news that I got from the official Banchetto Facebook Page:
"Seems like most of your requests are now being heard! Aside from reopening BANCHETTO in emerald soonest, we've got offers to have BANCHETTO in Araneta Center, in a mall in Makati, in Magallanes, in Sta Rosa, in Commonwealth and many more. Come July, we will start our BANCHETTO in Megatent every Saturday Nights, so please watch out for the final announcements... thank you so much"
Update (June 7, 2011):
Banchetto-Emerald is relocated and will now be called Banchetto-Megatent starting this Friday, June 10, 2011. Here's the latest update from their Multiply page:
"For the remaining 3 weeks of the month of June(10th, 17th & 24th), we will be there every Friday Night only from 9pm OVERNIGHT till 7am Saturday. But beginning in July, BANCHETTO-MEGATENT will be every Friday & Saturday Nights from 9pm OVERNIGHT till 7am the next day. BANCHETTO-MEGATENT is located at the open parking area of MEGATENT, along Meralco Avenue between the Renaissance Towers & Department of Education Building, Pasig city."
No, this isn't back to school. I was always on the lookout for an extraordinary food walk so I dragged along my travel buddies to UP Diliman.
First stop, Rodic's Diner. Located at the Shopping Center, this institution in UP is known for serving the best tapsilog in town for a very reasonable price (Php 70). I enjoyed the lean and tasty beef tapa which has a sweet distinct flavour. Add to that a refeshing bottle of Mountain Dew and you're all set.
After that scrumptious meal from Rodic's we had an affordable dessert for only Php 20 per scoop at Fruits in Ice Cream (FIC) which is also located inside the Shopping Center. They offer a lot of yummy flavors to choose from: nangkasuy, avocado, mango, durian, queso, strawberry, caramelo and raspberry rapture.
Third stop, Mang Larry's Isawan. I guess you won't be considered a UP Alumni if you haven't tried eating at this famous food stall which grown by leaps and bounds. People from different places, even from other cities go to UP for a taste of this great treat. Mang Larry's has always been known to have super long queues for their isaw, a delectable street food. This barbeque stand has been known for ages and continues to be one of the campus’ favourites every late afternoon until evening. The isaw actually tasted real good and the sourness of the vinegar were mixed really well. The most popular ones are isaw manok (chicken intestines) and isaw baboy (pig intestines) both sold at Php 3 per piece and tainga (pig ears) at Php 6 per piece. They also serve goto, atay, botsi and balun-balunan for Php 6 and pork barbecue for Php 8.
Second to the last top was Restaurant of Choice (ROC) located at Ang Bahay ng Alumni. The place actually has a homey ambiance and one might actually forget that it's inside a school campus. I only ordered the ROC Burger because my tummy was already complaining during that time. ROC Burger has a quarter pounder beef patty, onion, lettuce, tomatoes, sesame bun and is served with a generous amount of french fries. At Php 158, this meal can definitely fill a hungry stomach.
The food walk ended at The Chocolate Kiss Cafe which is most known for its sinful desserts. The cafe has a quiet and cozy ambiance and is an ideal place for a simple dinner date. They offer a lot of cakes on the menu priced from Php 70 to Php 105 per slice but I acutally can't remember what we ordered. Looking at the pictures, the only cake that I could recognize is the Blueberry Cheesecake.
There are also other food stalls nearby that sells kwek kwek, fishballs, sweet corn, banana que, turon, karioka and other sweet treats that will definitely give your taste buds a reason to cheer.
Unfortunately our tummies were not designed to handle the non-stop ingestion of food and we had to give it a break. Nevertheless, it was an extraordinary food walk that I'd surely recommend for anyone to try.
